knit1purr2

So there was an AITA post about how their wife has a 'secret' bank account and it made me think of money and how it is organized in my life. 

I had a savings account from the time I was very little, Birthday money and such all went in there. There were only deposits until high school were I would deposit babysitting money and take money out for big trips.  Then when I went to college I got a  credit card which i used twice a year for the first 2 years. 

I got a new checking and savings account halfway through college when I started working at staples. This was fully mine. I opened it. I still have it and my paycheck still get deposited there. 

When Hubs and I moved in together (after engagement but before marriage) we signed up for a joint account that we both deposited money into for rent/grocery/household expenses. We don't put in a 50/50 split but rather more representative to our salaries.I think right now it is like a 60/40 split cause he makes more money.  We have reviewed what our contributions are ever 18 months or so. I calculate up what our average monthly expenses are (Mortgage, childcare, grocery, internet, pet expenses, cell phones) and we make sure that we are depositing that much plus an extra 10%. We also put any monetary gifts/extra money that are to both of us in there. (wedding, anniversary,  tax refund).

Everything else goes into our personal accounts (Both checking and savings). From our personal accounts we pay for our student loans, credit cards, car payments, gifts for each other and any other purchase we want. For me that is yarn and more yarn, for him that is computer part or stuff for his latest projects. This means we can buy what we want and the other will (mostly) be quiet about it. 

We also recently opened a joint savings account to start saving for a down payment for a house. we each put some money in there. I put some in every paycheck he puts some in twice a month after paying his bills. 


So I think in a average paycheck it breaks down like this for me.
40% goes to the joint checking account for joint bills. 
30% to personal checking account
20% goes to my personal savings account
10% to the joint savings account. 

This is what works for us. I am a saver and he is a spender but we both hate doing budgets.

So yesterday I leveled up in Adulting. We signed our wills (with witnesses). So the husband is having a minor surgery tomorrow. So that finally got our butts into gear to officially have a will. Mostly so that we could say that if something happened to both of us, who is going to take care of the kiddo. It really wasn't that crazy, cause basically everything is either going to each other or the kid.  But there is a little less anxiety because we have our decisions written down. 

This of course means that I will spend a bunch of hours waiting while the husband is prepping for surgery, having surgery and then recovering from surgery. Thank goodness I am a knitter. Maybe I will finish my socks for the craft-a-long. (That is another post)

January has apparently been a month of working on financial stuff. Mostly for long term gain/growth.

• Took a look at our cell phone bill and internet bill. Cut $50 out of the monthly bills. (Extra $600 a year)
• Submitted an application to refinance my student loans. If this goes through my loans will be paid off by 2029 and I will save a few thousand dollars in interest overall. Just need to gather the rest of the documents to get it processed. 
• Planned a (small list) of home projects that will get done after getting our tax refund. (new water heater, installing a ceiling light in the bedroom, fixing another light). Money invested in the house.
• Plus I have been using a new service to help me squirrel away some money to help pad my savings account. 

Will have to do an update on goals maybe later this week.